CCF Visit RAF Waddington

The RAF Section of CCF visited RAF Waddington this week. Below are accounts of the trip from two of our cadets:

Seb (10H)

"Visiting RAF Waddington was both an inspiring and thought-provoking experience. We visited the new Protector RG MK1 drone operating room, and control system, followed by an in-person tour of the hangar where we got up-close with the aircraft itself, and its weapon/surveillance systems.  

This was followed by a presentation by the Chief engineer of the RC-135W river joint, and a quick Russian lesson from a RAF Intelligence linguist, who has worked aboard the spy plane while deployed in the Black Sea.  After lunch in the officers' mess, we drove to the Defence Fire and Rescue station where we were shown how to use a heavy-duty fire hose and were given a tour of two fire trucks. Later we visited a Vulcan and Red Arrow which were on display. The Red Arrows had only recently moved to RAF Waddington and this was made clear as on the way into the base, when we saw an incredible display of the Red Arrows skill while practicing their manoeuvres.   

To finish the experience off we met a RAF Police dog crew, who showed us around the dog station and gave us a little preview of their impressive training and capabilities. The trip was fantastic giving us an excellent insight into life on an RAF base, and what careers pathways may be on offer." 

Ben (9J)

"On Wednesday, we went to RAF Waddington on a 2-and-a-half-hour drive from school.  

When we arrived at the base, we were welcomed quickly, and went to our first activity, which is where we saw these multi-million-pound drone simulators for the new Predator aircraft, replacing the Reaper. We also got to see it in person, what surprised me the most was how long the wings were. These aircraft were used for stealth missions, equipped with many missiles and a very high quality camera.  

After we went to the 51 Squadron to learn about certain types of domestic and foreign aircraft. We also learnt a bit of Russian.  

After lunch, we went to the fire department, sat in a fire truck and tried spraying a cone down with a high-pressure hose, personally, this was my favourite part. Next, we saw a display Red Arrow Hawk T1, and also on the day we saw the Red Arrow team practicing near the base earlier when we were driving over to it, which was mesmerising to watch how they could all do it. 

Finally, we went to the RAF Police Dog Section, to see all the canines they use for various activities. We ended the day there arriving back to school at about 6.  

Overall it was a very enjoyable and insightful experience seeing some of the operations a main RAF base does. The red arrows were truly incredible though seeing all their manoeuvrers in synchrony, it was just shocking. Really though, the whole experience was just amazing."